By Innocent Anaba and Ikechukwu Nnochiri

An age long aphorism has it that “one man’s like is another man’s dislike”. There might not have been a better illustration for this adage than the cacophony that had engulfed the Nigerian Judiciary over a purported plan by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Katsina-Alu, to elevate one of his ‘beloved’ subordinate, the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, to the perceived zenith of his legal carrier.

Justice Katsina Aliu and Justice Ayo Salami

While it has remained the prayer point of many judicial officers in the country, to one day find themselves in the much revered bench of the Supreme Court, whose decision on any matter, whether good or bad, must be accepted with the “as court pleases” catchphrase, others have refused to touch the promotion offer with a ten meters pole.

‘A Supreme Court Justice is superior to any other Judge in Nigeria, so why are they declining to go there?’ a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Olisah Agbakoba, SAN, asked.

Also, Emeka Umeagbalasi, a lawyer and chairman of International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, raised some issues pertinent to the debate, and wondered whether the debate was induced by ignorance or purely ethnocentrism.

But Agbakoba said, “I took time to review appointments to the appellate court in the last 30 years. I was struck by the almost near refusal or neglect of Chief Judges and Presidents of the Court of Appeal to go to the Supreme Court. There is something terribly wrong here. I don’t know of any Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, going back to the time of Justice Sigsmund Lambo to Anyaegbunam, to Belgore, to Ukeje, Dan Abutu, who accepted elevation to the Supreme Court. Why?.

“A Supreme Court Justice is superior to any other Judge in Nigeria. So, why are they declining to go there? Even the great Justice Oputa went up to the Supreme Court only at the tail end of his career. He preferred to sit in Imo State as CJ. The same with Justice Babatunde Craig, who was a long serving CJ of his state. He just went up to serve in the Supreme Court for only six months.

“Then there was Justice Nwokedi, long serving CJ of Anambra State, who went to the Supreme Court for six months having preferred a long tenure as CJ of Anambra. Something is clearly and fundamentally wrong,” he added.

Agbakoba’s position came on the heels of the blatant refusal of the present Appeal Court President, Justice Salami, to proceed to the Supreme Court, insisting that the promotion offer was a “Greek gift”.

Adducing reasons why he would not accept the offer, Justice Salami, via a rejection letter dated February 4, 2011, which he copied personally to the CJN, maintained that “the present unholy move to push me out of the Court of Appeal for whatever reason has no precedence in our judicial history. I do not therefore think it will be fair for the CJN to seek to create a dangerous precedent which may give rise to chain reaction”.

Though the weighty allegations of corruption he raised against the CJN is yet to be given the due attention it deserves, it is, however, funny to underscore the fact that a day did not pass before other Appeal Court Justices began jostling for the rejected post.

While some of them had embarked on an intense underground lobbying, they kept encouraging their immediate boss, Salami, to maintain his ground, as doing otherwise would jeopardize their chances of actualizing their dream of making it to the apex court.

Whereas the recommendation of Justice Salami for elevation to the Supreme Court sparked series of protests by both himself and his sympathizers, three of his colleagues at the appellate court, Justices Mary Odili, Olukayode Ariwoola and Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, and their well wishers may have intensified their prayer sessions with a view to moving God to touch President Goodluck Jonathan’s heart, so that he can approve and forward their names to the Senate for screening.

Agbakoba while condemning the trend maintained, “The personal quarrel between Salami and Katsina-Alu has simply escalated issues and opened up issues. We must stop elevating junior judges to the Court of Appeal, when their Chief Judges are not going, but sitting back and pushing junior judges forward” he added.

According to him, “we need to re_examine the institutions of the judiciary. In the beginning, there was 100% insulation of the judiciary from the executive because during the military we didn’t want interference. This is maybe the time for us to re_consider how judicial institutions are run. There has to be a better structure of appointments of appellate justices.

“This is the point the NBA has been making. We need to introduce Senior Advocates of Nigeria to appellate courts. We need to encourage Heads of Courts to accept elevation to the Supreme Court. In closing, we must isolate the personal issues between the CJN and the President of the Court of Appeal and look at the institutional problems. It was the failure of the institution that caused this drama and not the personal issues between Justice Salami and Chief Justice Katsina-Alu.

“I am taking this unusual step, even though I may break some ethical boundaries, to comment on this rather sensitive issue. There is a need to put the records straight. I will be guided by the truth and nothing else. I don’t owe anybody anything.

“At 58, ex-President of the Bar, grand father of three grand children, I fear nobody. I am therefore not interested in taking sides with either the CJN or the President of the Court of Appeal. They are not

going to give me any briefs and they are not going to feed me, but it’s important that all the facts are out. This issue cannot be discussed without recognizing the personal issues of our two senior justices, relating to the Sokoto State governorship appeal, where the Supreme Court, wrongfully, in my respectful view, intervened in a matter that was strictly an election petition.

“The Sokoto Election Petition Panel is the Court of final Appeal on election issues, under the general administration of the President of the Court of Appeal. The second issue of course relates to the accusation against Justice Salami by Senator Omisore and whether or not bribes were given to deliver judgment. These were the personal issues that unfortunately colored the recent crisis” Agbakoba added.

In a related development, Emeka Umeagbalasi, a lawyer and chairman of International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, said “The CJN/Appeal Court President’s crisis may have come and gone, but the lessons it generated cannot be easily wished away. To NJC, the reactions trailing the sad event were deeply rooted in “ignorance”, but us, it is far more than ignorance. It is a pure case of ethnocentrism, whereby a section of the country feels that it is more superior to other sections of the country. This section has in its stock, the “divine rights of infallibility”, in the sense that it does no wrong; its judges are incorruptible; it does not rig elections; and its opinions on social matters, be they legal or political, are unchallenged. As far as this particular section of the country is concerned, nothing good comes from any other part of the country, except it comes from that section.

“When a clear case of bribery or embezzlement is unearthed in that section, it becomes a political persecution. And when violent crimes, including political assassinations take place in that part of the country, they are deemed normal, but if they happened in any other part, that area will be celebrated and nicknamed “jungle”. These are the attributes of ethnocentrism (act of attaching and upholding the superiority of one ethnic group above other ethnic groups). These clearly manifested during the said apex judicial elevation saga. The intellectual artistry, especially in the field of law and democracy, with which some public commentators from that section was hitherto known for, was thrown to the dogs, and ethnic and parochial interests condemnably promoted.

“But thank to the Almighty God for the NJC’s press statement, issued on the heels of the saga, after its 4th Emergency Meeting, which, though, belated, but was able to vindicate the just and rubbish the seemingly “ethnic jingoists”. Those who genuinely disagreed with them in public commentaries over the saga were called all sorts of foul names.

“A typical example was the Saharareports, where deadly name-callings were the order of the day, simply because some people openly took different positions on the issue. They were described as “idiots”, “political jobbers”, and “lunatics”, to mention a few. For the avoidance of doubt, let us respectfully summarize the NJC’s press statement, issued on February 9, 2011, at the end of its 4th Emergency Meeting: 1.That both the NJC and the FJSC acted within their constitutional limits in selecting and nominating the four Justices of the Appeal Court, including Justice Ayo Isa Salami for the post of the Justices of the Supreme Court. 2. That Justice Salami duly participated in the nomination process, conducted by the FJSC. 3. That vacancies existed at the Supreme Court (contrary to the said commentators who claimed that no vacancy existed). 4. That the NJC withdrew Justice Salami’s candidacy because it was subjudice, since the NJC was joined in the suit filed by Justice Salami.6. That the advice of the FJSC to the NJC with respect to the said selection never amounted to an offer of appointment or an appointment. 7. That the opinion of a candidate to be made a Justice of the Supreme Court is usually not sought, though the NJC voluntarily decided that in a situation where the candidate communicates in writing that he or she does not wish to be so appointed, his or her name would be withdrawn from the list. 8. That an Appeal Court President can be made a Justice of the Supreme Court.

“Among all the bodies created by the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, the NJC is occupied by the “wisest” and most “learned “men in Nigeria’s jurisprudential intellectual industry. Members of the hallowed body (NJC), according to paragraph 20 of Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution are: 1. Chief Justice of Nigeria (chairman),2.the next senior Justice of the Supreme Court (deputy chairman), 3.the Court of Appeal President, 4.five retired Justices elected by the CJN from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, 5.the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court,6.five Chief Judges of the States, 7.one Grand Kadi from the Sharia Court of Appeal, 8.one President of the Customary Court of Appeal,9.five members of the Nigeria Bar Association, who have been in legal practice for 15 years and above, with at least one of them being a SAN,10. two persons not being legal practitioners, who in the opinion of the CJN, are of unquestionable integrity.

“One area that must not left out is the issue of alleged corruption and administrative incompetence, which seems to be associated with the leaderships of the duo of the CJN and the Appellate Court President. The scorecards of the duo are very far from being encouraging. The reported attempts to compromise the Sokoto State governorship election matter was eventually compromised since it still went the way of the incumbent, whom the CJN allegedly wanted to save from the beginning and it would be very difficult to exonerate the Appeal Court President and indict the CJN in this respect. Sadly, it took the Appeal Court President months to make this public, yet he had not forwarded, till this date, any criminal complaint against the CJN since he could depose to an affidavit in court with respect to same.

“Today, there is still a number of election cases, arising from the 2007 armada of electoral fraud and its adhoc polls, pending before his Fifteen Divisions, and till date, a number of reserved cases is still delayed for over two months, as if they are land matters. What happened during this unfortunate saga and national embarrassment was a clear case of information warfare, rooted in ethnocentrism, and un

leashed on the policy_making, attentive and mass segments of the Nigerian public. This is far more dangerous than the act of spinning and cherry_picking methodologies usually adopted by the Public Relations Department of the Nigeria Police in the course of its official falsehoods over police abuses in Nigeria,” he added.

Taking these prevailing controversies into account, the pertinent question has remained, is promotion to the Supreme Court bench a blessing or a curse?